פְּרִי עֵץ הַדַּעַת עַל צַלַּחַת סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge on the Tu biShvat Seder Plate, by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx

Contributor(s):

Dalia Marx

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4 January 2011 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat)

Tags:

ישראל Yisrael, social justice, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., תקון עולם tiqqun olam

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
חכמינו זכרם לברכה שאלו מה היה עץ הדעת שממנו אכלו אדם וחוה.‏ ארבעה רבנים הציעו ארבע תשובות -‏	Our sages of blessed memory asked what was the tree of knowledge from which Adam and Ḥavah ate. Four rabbis gave four different answers:
ר׳ מאיר אומר: חטים היו […]‏ ר׳ יהודה בר’ אילעאי אמר ענבים היו […]‏ ר׳ אבא דעכו אמר אתרוג היה […]‏ ר׳ יוסי אומר תאנים היו (בראשית רבה יט)	Rabbi Meir said: “It was wheat…” Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ela’I said: “it was grapes…” Rabbi Abba of Acre said: “it was an etrog…” Rabbi Yossi said: “it was figs…” (Genesis Rabbah 19)
ניקח בידינו פרוסת לחם או מאפה העשוי מחִטה, נטעם ונאמר:‏ באכלנו את הלחם בטבעיות ובנינוחות, אנו זוכרים את אלה שלחמם לחם צר ובצער הם בוצעים אותו לבני ביתם. באכלנו את הלחם אנו מביעים מחויבות לפעול למיגור העוני ולתיקון הפערים בחברה הישראלית.‏	We take up bread or a wheat product, taste it and say: “When we eat bread so naturally and comfortably, we remember those whose bread is spare and who sorrowfully ration it among their family. Through eating this bread we make a commitment to act to reduce poverty and the social gaps in our society.”
ניקח בידינו צימוקים או יין ענבים, נטעם (או נלגום) ונאמר: בטעמנו את פרי הגפן, אנו אומרים שכשם שקנוקנות הגפן משתרגות ואוחזות את הנקרה על דרכן ואינן מרפות, כך שומה עלינו לחבק ולאמץ את החולים, הקשישים, הפגועים והתשושים שבחברתנו ולא להרפות מהם.‏	We take up raisins or wine made from grapes, taste and say: “Through tasting the fruit of the vine we state that just as the tendrils of the vine encircle and latch onto whatever they find in their way, it is incumbent upon us to embrace and take in the sick, the elderly, the broken and the worn out of our society, never abandoning them.”
ניקח בידינו תאנה, נטעם ממנה ונאמר:‏ “וְיָשְׁב֗וּ אִ֣ישׁ תַּ֧חַת גַּפְנ֛וֹ וְתַ֥חַת תְּאֵנָת֖וֹ וְאֵ֣ין מַחֲרִ֑יד כִּי־פִ֛י ה֥׳ צְבָא֖וֹת דִּבֵּֽר” (מיכה ד:ד) באכלנו את פרי התאנה, אנחנו מזכירים לעצמנו את המחויבות שלנו לאפשר לכל אדם לחיות בהשקט בביתו ולהתפרנס בכבוד ממעשה ידיו ואת החובה שלנו להתקומם נגד אלה הפוגעים בביתם, באדמותיהם וברכושם של בני אדם.‏	We take up a fig, taste it and say: “’And every person shall sit under their vine and under their fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for YHVH Tseva’ot has spoken’ (Micah 4:4). When eating the fig we reaffirm our commitment to enable every person to live peacefully in his or her home and to support themselves in dignity. We reaffirm our obligation to protest those who damage the homes, the lands and the property of fellow human beings.”
ניקח בידינו פרי עץ הדר המסמל את האתרוג,^[1] חז״ל זיהו את “פרי עץ הדר”, שאותו דרשה התורה לקחת בסוכות (ויקרא כג, 40) עם האתרוג.‏ נטעם ממנו ונאמר:‏ פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר מְסֻמָּל בְּנֵי אָדָם שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶם תּוֹרָה וְיֵשׁ בָּהֶם מַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים.‏ (ויקרא רבה ל:יב) באוכלנו את פרי עץ ההדר, אנחנו מזכירים לעצמנו שֶׁלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הָעִקָּר, אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה, (אבות א:יז) ושלא די להאמין בצדק, אלא יש לפעול בנחישות להשגתו.‏	We take up a citrus fruit symbolizing the etrog, taste it and say: “The etrog symbolizes the person that has both knowledge of Torah and good deeds. (Leviticus Rabbah 30:12) Through eating the citrus, we remind ourselves, that teaching alone is not sufficient, but must be combined with action (Pirkei Avot 1:17). It is not enough to believe in justice. We must work determinedly to achieve justice.”
באוכלנו מן המאכלים שאותם זיהו חז״ל עם פרי עץ הדעת, אנו זוכרים את טוּב הבריאה, את יופיה ואת שלמותה, אנו זוכרים שהאדם, באשר הוא אדם הנו נֶזר הבריאה. תפקידנו לשמור על העולם לעבדו, לשמרו ולתקנו.‏ תפקידנו לעשות את החברה בישראל צודקת יותר למען תהא ברכה לכל יושביה ואוהביה.‏	Through eating those fruits that our sages of blessed memory identified as the fruit of the tree of knowledge, we recall the best of creation, in its beauty and completeness. We remember that every human being, by virtue of being a human being, is the pinnacle of creation. Our task as caretakers is to preserve the world, to work it, and to repair it. Our task is to make the State of Israel more just, so that she will be a blessing to all of her inhabitants and to those who love her.
ברוך אתה ה׳ אשר חנן אותנו בבינה להבחין בין טוב ובין רע וביכולת לבחור בטוב.‏	Blessed are you YHVH (Hashem), Who grants us the insight to distinguish between good and evil, and the ability to choose good. Barukh Ata Adonai, asher ḥanan otanu b’vina l’havḥin bein tov u’vein ra u’va’yekholet livḥor ba’tov.

Notes[+]

Notes
1	חז״ל זיהו את “פרי עץ הדר”, שאותו דרשה התורה לקחת בסוכות (ויקרא כג, 40) עם האתרוג.‏

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“פְּרִי עֵץ הַדַּעַת עַל צַלַּחַת סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge on the Tu biShvat Seder Plate, by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Dalia Marx

Rabbi Dalia Marx (PhD) is the Aaron Pankin professor of liturgy and Midrash at the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-JIR, and teaches in various academic institutions in Israel and Europe. Marx, tenth generation in Jerusalem, earned her doctorate at the Hebrew University and her rabbinic ordination at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem and Cincinnati. She is involved in various research projects and is active in promoting liberal Judaism in Israel. Marx writes for academic and popular journals and publications. She is the author of בזמן: מסעות בלוח השנה היהודי ישראלי (Bazman 2018), When I Sleep and when I Wake: On Prayers between Dusk and Dawn (Yediot Sfarim 2010, in Hebrew), A Feminist Commentary of the Babylonian Talmud (Mohr Siebeck, 2013, in English) and the co-editor of a few books. She was the chief editor of T'fillat HaAdam: Israeli Reform Siddur (2020). Marx lives in Jerusalem with her husband Rabbi Roly Zylbersztein (PhD) and their three children.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17